Greenpeace: Disposable Forest

Credits & Description:

Category: Charity and Not for Profit
Advertiser: GREENPEACE
Product/Service: GREENPEACE
Executive Creative Director: Bill Chan (Ogilvy Beijing)
Executive Creative Director: Doug Schiff (Ogilvy Beijing)
Associate Executive Creative Director: Wilson Chow (Ogilvy Beijing)
Associate Creative Director: Shiyang He (Ogilvy Beijing)
Copywriter: Doug Schiff (Ogilvy Beijing)
Copywriter: Lianhui Hao (Ogilvy Beijing)
Art Director: Shiyang He (Ogilvy Beijing)
Art Director: Shujie Qi (Ogilvy Beijing)
Art Director: Gongxing Wang (Ogilvy Beijing)
Art Director: Perry Zheng (Ogilvy Beijing)
Digital Art Director: Dong Liu (Ogilvy Beijing)
Digital Art Director: Xaioxin Yang (Ogilvy Beijing)
Flash Designer: Ajie Liu (Ogilvy Beijing)
Agency Producer: Tracy Wu (Ogilvy Beijing)
Agency Producer: Yong Zhang (Ogilvy Beijing)
Account: Raymond Tao (Ogilvy Beijing)
Account: Yoyo Liu (Ogilvy Beijing)
Account: Vivian Guo (Ogilvy Beijing)
Photographer: Zhu Liu
Illustrator: Shujie Qi (Ogilvy Beijing)
Media placement: Event - Shi Mao Tian Jie Shopping Center - 18 December 2010
Media placement: Outdoor Installations - Shi Mao Tian Jie Shopping Center - 18 December 2010
Media placement: Online+mobile - Mini-Site, SNS, Banners - 18 December 2010
Media placement: Poster - Various Locations Around Beijing - 18 December 2010

Summary of the Campaign
Every 10 seconds a tree is cut down in China to supply the nation's daily demand for disposable chopsticks. Greenpeace wanted to create a movement to get people to pledge not to use them.

The first step would be awareness of the problem. Along with that would be an effort to get people to actively pledge. Along with this goal, Greenpeace wanted restaurants to pledge by stopping to supply disposable chopsticks.

To achieve the media attention needed, an event was produced. At the centre of this event was the creation of a "Disposable Forest", 84,000 recycled chopsticks turned back into trees. From that the media took notice, people pledged, and thousands of restaurants stopped supplying disposable chopsticks.

The Situation
China is losing a huge amount of forest every year due to the desire for convenient disposable chopsticks. Every year a forest the size of Greater Hong Kong is lost for this reason. Through awareness and encouragement about permanent-use chopsticks, Greenpeace could turn the tide against this waste.

The Goal
The target was everyone that uses disposable chopsticks, along with restaurants that supply them, and of course the media that could amplify the message.

The strategy was to have an event get media attention and spread the word of how disposable chopsticks are needlessly destroying China's forests.

The Strategy
Greenpeace knew that this was a low-involvement situation. Most Chinese don't think twice before they use disposable chopsticks. So to make an impression and let average people know of their consequences something memorable and even spectacular would have to be created.

Execution
A ‘Disposable Forest’ was placed in a popular Beijing shopping area. Greenpeace handed out permanent-use chopsticks and encouraged people to make a pledge not to use disposable ones. The pledge can be made in many ways, signing up right in the event, taking picture then sending to SNS, through a mini-site, or even forwarding the related message.

Documented Results
The event gained so much attention from broadcast, print and online media that over 100,000 people were encouraged to make the pledge while over 2,000 restaurants took the step to stop supplying disposable chopsticks.

In fact, Greenpeace was so encouraged by the result that they've now begun working with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), to create a pan-Asian pledge.

December 2010’s Greenpeace Disposable Forest media coverage totally counted up to 37 pieces.
International media coverage counted up to 16 pieces of which 13 were prints and 3 were video.
Local media coverage counted up to 21 pieces of which 16 were prints, 2 were TV and 3 were online.